Alex Mermikides, Cuckoo

Review in Issue 8-1 | Spring 1996

This is a story about Cuckoo. Neil Edmond as Cuckoo bursts out of an egg, a barrel shape of tyres, including a nappy. Lucy Benson, his mother, is suitably exhausted but happy. Hunger strikes and Cuckoo mauls her grotesque breasts. His violence and aggression go unchecked alienating his father (Nathan Pope) and killing his nanny (Mark Mullen). Cuckoo is eventually pacified when his father traps him in a swing and stuffs his beak full of worms. The set was marvellous, a multitude of objects hanging from red cord including a clock, a teapot and gardening equipment. Daffy Daffodil, the flower, was crafted out of tin cans and lit up! Tyres were extensively used for furniture, a car and a throne. These tyres, although a good idea, became obstructive, with too many scene changes arresting the flow of the play. The Language which the mother and father used (pidgin English) was simplistic and just short of annoying. Were they birds or human? It was not clear. The play contained many interesting ideas. If it was dissatisfying it was simply because the company's enormous potential had not been exploited to the full.

Presenting Artists
Presenting Venue
Date Seen
  1. Dec 1995

This article in the magazine

Issue 8-1
p. 22